Home are the heroes, already looking ahead

CRICKET:AT 18 years of age George Dockrell represents the present as well as the future for Cricket Ireland. Last year he was at school in Gonzaga; for the last month he was duelling against several of the sport's premier batsmen, taking seven wickets at the World Cup in India and Bangladesh.

Sitting on the dais at the Radisson Blu airport hotel, his right arm housed in a sling to protect a dislocated shoulder, he looks remarkably fresh-faced following a long-haul flight as he settles down to media chores at a reception to mark the homecoming of the Irish team following their celebrated exploits in the Indian subcontinent.

Amiable and articulate, it is when invited to offer a potted history of his background in the sport that the realisation sinks in it really isn’t so long ago that he followed his father, Derek – he’s president of YMCA this year – as a toddler down to Sandymount to watch him play.

George’s prowess was quickly evident, nurtured down the road from the family home at Leinster cricket club in Rathmines, a succession of underage national sides and at school. He also excelled at hockey, making the Ireland Under-16 squad, but a trip to South Africa around that time ensured cricket took precedence.

He hasn’t cast a backward glance since. No matter how onerous the challenge, Dockrell has demonstrated the aptitude not only to survive but to flourish. A high point for the slow left-arm spinner came in Ireland’s defeat against India when he claimed the prized wicket of Sachin Tendulkar.

“That was just amazing,” he smiles. “Playing India in Bangalore in front of 45,000, bowling to Sachin Tendulkar and then getting him out, I will never forget that.

“I try not to think too much about individuals, because if you are thinking about the guy at the other end (of the wicket), in this case someone who has played more than 400 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and he’s got the most ODI runs, you might frighten yourself a bit too much.

“No matter whom I was bowling to – I had an idea in my mind of how they (batsmen) might play me – but generally I was trying to stick to what I wanted to do; what I do well and just try and do that in all the games.

“When you are playing international cricket it doesn’t matter what wicket you’re on when you are bowling to world-class batsmen. They’re still going to punish you if you stray off your line and length. If you put the ball where you want to put it then things are going to go well for you.”

The only down side to experiences he frequently describes as “amazing” came in the fourth over of Ireland’s final match when he dislocated his shoulder while diving for a ball off his bowling.

“Thankfully there was a doctor at the stadium and he has able to put it back in straight away.

“I went to the hospital in Calcutta and had an MRI and an X-ray. Now I am going to see a specialist here this week. He’ll be able to tell me how long I will be out.”

He was due to start pre-season training with English county side Somerset, with whom he signed a two-year contract as a 17-year-old last summer. He’s hoping to be back soon, possibly by the end of next month.

For Irish cricket, though, the challenge is to swap their associate membership of the ICC for full Test status and to continue the development of the sport in this country. Between the World Cups the numbers playing in this country have accelerated from 15,000 to 25,000, and there is a belief following their latest success that those figures can be doubled again within four years.

Ranked 10th in the world, Ireland have proved in the 2007 and 2011 World Cups that they can compete with and challenge the elite. Far from being satisfied with victories over England and the Netherlands, coach Phil Simmons regards the most recent odyssey as an opportunity lost.

“I personally felt that when I left here (Ireland) with the team I had we could get to the semi-final, looking at our group. We showed that in the way we played cricket. We didn’t pull through in the two matches we needed to. At the end of the day, in another aspect we have come back with a lot more than we left with.

“One statement that pleased me was that after we beat England, India had a meeting about us which they didn’t need to have before. So things like that are successes in their own right. We played well and we put ourselves in position to beat the top teams.

“The other box we ticked is that we have the ability to draw crowds, both at the ground and in terms of a television audience.

“They (the ICC) must now look at that. Hopefully they do the right thing and make sure that there is some sort of qualifier for the last two places or something like that (for WC 2015). If they do then I think we will be part of the next World Cup.”

Warren Deutrom, chief executive of Cricket Ireland, encapsulated the essence of the national side’s aspirations when he said about trying to secure ICC membership.

“It is there where we will see whether the ICC shows true leadership, to ensure that their principles of meritocracy, fair play and global development can shout more loudly than the entitlements of membership.”

Ireland will play ODIs against Sri Lanka and Scotland before welcoming England to Castle Avenue in August.